Roles and responsibilities in agile ICT for development

This paper examines the different roles in designing interactive software in a ICT for development context. Using experiences from a participatory action research project, in which we used agile methods to design and deploy an system to support ‘agricultural information flow’ for a co-operative of small farmers in rural India, we identify points of difference between the roles in standard descriptions of agile software methods and the roles as they emerged in our project. A key finding is the critical role played by a ‘Development Project Manager’ in facilitating dialogue, orchestrating the activities of other actors and in building the capabilities and confidence of all the participants in joint action

A Human Factors Study of Risk Management of Complex Agile Scrum Projects in Large Enterprises

Agile Project Management methods have gained phenomenal success in the IT software world in managing projects of high complexity and uncertainty. However, Agile projects come with their unique set of risks. This paper seeks to explore the risks posed by human factors to complex Agile Scrum projects in large enterprises. Project Risk Management is crucial in determining the future performance of a complex project. Increasing project complexity makes it more and more difficult to anticipate potential events that could affect the project and to make effective decisions to reduce project risk exposure. This is even more true for Agile projects that promote immediate and frequent visibility of risk factors and distributed decision making in projects. A dominant reason for failure of complex Agile projects are the risks caused by human and organization factors. This paper will analyze the delivery risks posed by human factors and the traditionally hierarchical decision making in large enterprise systems

Security Champions Without Support: Results from a Case Study with OWASP SAMM in a Large-Scale E-Commerce Enterprise

Developer-centered security research has identified a variety of reasons why software developers do not follow recommended security practices: lack of knowledge, outdated information sources, time pressure, and low usability of security mechanisms and tools. Contextual factors play an important role in security, but few studies have investigated security interventions with developers in organizational settings. In this case study, we track the impact of appointing security champions in a large e-commerce company with five software development teams, using the OWASP Security Assurance Maturity Model (OWASP SAMM) to measure the extent to which security practices were adopted. We also elicited the experiences of the security champions and developers in each team in 15 qualitative interviews. The results of the OWASP SAMM assessment show the adoption of secure practices varied widely between the different teams. Results from the interviews revealed different levels of security knowledge and commitment to the role between the security champions - but they agree in their perceived lack of support from company security experts and management. We conclude that secure software development requires more than appointing individuals such as security champions - to transform software development practices requires an organization-wide commitment, including access to resources and support

Evolving a software development methodology for commercial ICTD projects

This article discusses the evolution of a “DistRibuted Agile Methodology Addressing Technical Ictd in Commercial Settings” (DRAMATICS) that was developed in a global software corporation to support ICTD projects from initial team setup through ICT system design, development, and prototyping, to scaling up and transitioning, to sustainable commercial models. We developed the methodology using an iterative Action Research approach in a series of commercial ICTD projects over a period of more than six years. Our learning is reflected in distinctive methodology features that support the development of contextually adapted ICT systems, collaboration with local partners, involvement of end users in design, and the transition from research prototypes to scalable, long-term solutions. We offer DRAMATICS as an approach that others can appropriate and adapt to their particular project contexts. We report on the methodology evolution and provide evidence of its effectiveness in the projects where it has been used

Best Practices for Implementing Agile Methods: A Guide for Department of Defense Software Developers

Traditional plan-driven software development has been widely used in the government because it\u27s considered to be less risky, more consistent, and structured. But there has been a shift from this approach to Agile methods which are more flexible, resulting in fast releases by working in an incremental fashion to adapt to the reality of the changing or unclear requirements. This report describes the Agile software development philosophy, methods, and best practices in launching software design projects using the Agile approach. It is targeted to Defense Department software developers because they face broad challenges in creating enterprise-wide information systems, where Agile methods could be used most effectively. Though not a panacea, agile methods offer a solution to an important class of problems faced by organizations today. Technology and E-Government

From Hands-on Sessions to User Insights on Designing an Interactive System for Data Science

Our design research goal is to improve the user experience and effectiveness of an integrated IT solution for supporting the creative and collaborative Data Science (DS) life-cycle process. The work is being done as a Design Science Research (DSR) project, in real-life context. Within a fast-pace development environment, with scarce access to end-users, we combined hands-on sessions and semi-structured user interviews into a fast-forward design insights technique ([aka insightz]) to capture: i) people interests and expectations about the tool (leading to design improvements) and ii) stakeholders’ insights about the DS process itself (leading to process and business innovation). We propose these insightz workshops and the user research approach as a design technique to define and to communicate design principles and guidelines between different stakeholders, namely, UI/UX and engineering teams

Agile Adoption in Information Technology Departments at Research Universities

This dissertation analyzes Agile methods and how they are adopted by Information Technology (IT) departments in research universities. Existing literature has focused on Agile adoption in private and public sectors. This study fills a knowledge gap in the research literature on Agile adoption in university contexts. Three research questions guide this study: What are the uses of Agile methods in research universities? What are the specific factors that affect adoption of agile methods in research universities? Why do research universities adopt (or not adopt) Agile methods? By answering these questions, the present study contributes to the growing literature on the opportunities and challenges of adopting Agile methods. Methodologically, the study is based on a survey of the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of 418 research universities (response rate of 41.4%) and elite interviews. The survey included questions about Agile adoption in terms of purpose, methods, challenges, and organizational environment. The elite interviews explored the factors affecting Agile adoption and were supplemented with secondary documents about the organizational characteristics of the IT departments. The survey results show that many IT departments (nearly 60%) in these universities have adopted Agile. Agile is used to accelerate software development, manage projects, and increase productivity. The challenges of adopting Agile include pervasiveness of traditional waterfall methods, funding limitations, lack of skills, inconsistent process and practices, and organizational resistance to change. With respect to organizational factors, the level of research university is a determinant for adopting Agile. R1 Doctoral Universities (i.e., very high research activity) have more adoption of Agile methods compared to R2 Doctoral Universities (i.e., high research activity) or R3 Doctoral/ Professional Universities (i.e., D/PU). CIOs’ experience with Agile is a critical factor for adopting Agile. Elite interviews with the CIOs show the significance of the organizational context to adopt Agile. IT departments support university research and teaching; hence, these departments have a constant need to address the university departments’ needs. Leadership of these departments influences Agile adoption. Agile fosters frequent and effective communication among the team members. Overall, IT departments adopt Agile to increase their organizational efficiency in delivering their services efficiently within the universities

A deeply embedded sociotechnical strategy for designing ICT for development

This document is the author deposited version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it. Published version DEARDEN, Andy and RIZVI, Haider (2009). A deeply embedded sociotechnical strategy for designing ICT for development. International journal of sociotechnology and knowledge development, 1 (4), 52-70. Repository use policy Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in SHURA to facilitate their private study or for noncommercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. Sheffield Hallam University Research Archiv

From Immersion’s Bleeding Edge to the Augmented Telegrapher: A Method for Creating Mixed Reality Games for Museum and Heritage Contexts

Immersive technologies can be used to broaden the possibilities of storytelling in heritage contexts, to enrich the ways in which museum collections are interpreted, and to facilitate more active engagement with history. To this end, as part of the United Kingdom's Industrial Strategy, new models, methods, and workflows are being developed to help realise the value of such technologies across the country. However, prior art shows that immersive technologies present particular challenges with respect to usability, uptake, on-boarding, sustainability, and authenticity. Towards addressing these challenges, a programme of action research has been established across a series of museums in Cornwall. Focusing upon the Augmented Telegrapher at Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, a co-designed social escape room experience that utilises the Microsoft HoloLens to simulate a telegraphy training exercise from World War 2, this article addresses what partnerships with smaller, rural establishments need to effectively realise the value of immersive technologies. Using the work of Erik Champion as a critical lens, the article shows how an iterative constructivist approach leveraging game design principles can underpin success. This is distilled into a set of recommended interaction blueprints and transdisciplinary working practices that will be of interest to curators, researchers, and serious game developers

Utilising web analytics in the agile development of e-commerce sites : a software developer’s perspective

E-commerces have gained popularity exponentially since the dawn of the world wide web. To stay competitive, increase revenue and make their e-commerce site as good as possible, organisations have begun to utilise web analytics to make the development of the site data driven. Agile software development has often been the desired way of building software in the last decades. Organisations are in increasing numbers trying to move to a more agile way of working in order to build better software. In this thesis we examine how the web analytics of an e-commerce site can be utilised as well as possible in agile software development teams. We examine this web analytics process especially from the point of view of software developers in these teams. The research around this topic was conducted as qualitative research by interviewing four different software developers each having experience in developing e-commerces. Drawing from their experiences and opinions, we formulate some observations and guidelines for how organisations can potentially improve their efficiency in utilising web analytics as a part of their development process